Streetcar Company gearing up for spring show

'Patience' opens April 10

Thursday

Feb 26, 2009 at 3:15 AM

After auditions in late January and four weeks of rehearsal, The Streetcar Company community theater group of Laconia is well on their way to fine tuning their presentation of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera "Patience".

Director Johan Andersen has been working hard along side his cast of over 20 talented singer /actors to bring this lesser know, but still delightful G&S musical to the stage at Laconia High School. Andersen is no stranger to Gilbert and Sullivan having directed or appeared in numerous productions over the years. "Patience" is close to his heart though, as it was the first one he performed in as an 8th grader in Hopkinton, Mass. "There were no tenors in the High School, so they dipped into Junior High for me!", Andersen said.

This is The Streetcar Company's fourth Gilbert and Sullivan production having previously presented HMS Pinafore, The Mikado and The Pirates of Penzance. "Patience" revolves around all the well-born rapturous young ladies in the village who are in love with two contrasting aesthetic poets (a "fleshy" poet and an "idyllic" poet). But the poets are both in love with Patience, the simple village milkmaid, who cares nothing for poetry. Patience learns that true love must be completely unselfish. The ladies' military suitors don't see the point to aesthetics, but they decide to give it a try to win the women's hearts. It is touch and go for awhile, but everyone ends up with a suitable partner, even if it is only a tulip or lily.